WBA welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao turns 42 in the month of December.
The eight division champion has been inactive since July of 2019, when he captured the WBA title with a twelve round decision over unbeaten Keith Thurman at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
As BoxingScene.com previously reported, the boxer is not going to fight in 2020 - due to the restrictions with the coronavirus pandemic.
In the last few months, Pacquiao has been rumored as an opponent for several big names - including Errol Spence, Mikey Garcia, and even UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
Sean Gibbons, the head of Pacquiao’s MP Promotions, indicates that whoever the boxer faces - he won't be coming back on the cheap, so a live crowd will likely be necessary in some form.
“Logic would tell you that with the kind of money the senator is going to command for any fight he takes, there would have to be some fans in the stands,” Gibbons told Yahoo Sports. “It’s the same with [Deontay] Wilder and [Tyson] Fury and Anthony Joshua. You need crowds to generate the kind of money it takes to put on an event like that.
“The Senator is long past the point of having to prove anything. He’s in his 26th year and with what he’s done, it’s enough to get him in the Hall of Fame 10 times over. He wants to give the fans what they want.
“Let’s be honest, here: At this stage, there is nothing he could do to top what he’s already done. What does it mean to him now to beat the best welterweights out there? Been there, done that. At this point, Manny is on a sort of a victory lap, and he’ll let the fans speak and then make a decision.”
